May 14, 2007

From the Herbal Gardens

I have known Barbara Fahs, owner of Hi‘iaka's Healing Herb Garden, for several years, both as a friend and as a colleague since we are both freelance writers for the Hawaii Island Journal. Barbara is an authority on healing herbs as well as a published author. Her newest book is titled Super Simple Guide to Creating Hawaiian Gardens.

A couple of weeks ago, Barbara contacted me about Team Teaching a Mother's Day class using fresh herbs and she would conduct the participants through a little tour of the gardens while they collected flowers and foliage for little gift bouquets everyone would get to take home with them.

The demo style class was held yesterday (Saturday, May 12) in her breezy upstairs lanai with a beautiful view of the gardens. Below are the recipes for the simple and fast herbal creations I demonstrated to our little group of guests.

By the time I thought about taking a picture, most of the pesto was gone!

I used Thai Basil, since that was what both Barbara and I had on hand. I also added an 8 ounce block of low-fat cream cheese and made it into a dip or spread.

Here is a tip when making large quantities of pesto (without the cream cheese) is to pack a tablespoonful of pesto in individual ice cube trays. Freeze and then pop out and store in freezer zip-lock bags. When you need some to make a sauce, use a cube or two, mix with a bit more olive oil or melted butter and pour over your pasta. If you mix a bit of cream with it, it will be a creamy pesto sauce.

Another idea for a creamy pesto sauce is to mix equal amounts of flour and butter and cut together until the crumbly stage. Pack enough in each compartment of an ice cube tray. Pop out when frozen and store in zip-lock bag in freezer. When needed, take a cube or two out, cook it in the pan first (making a roux) stirring all the time, just to get rid of the raw flour taste, then add the cube(s) of pesto and mix to the desired consistency. Milk or cream can also be added.

I keep a supply of the little flour/butter cubes in my freezer for instant white sauce at any time.

ROSEMARY BUTTER

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 teaspoons fresh rosemary leaves, removed from stem

1/2 teaspoon orange or lemon zest or grated rind

1 Tablespoon white wine or lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red chile pepper

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

4 ounces unsalted butter (1/4 pound - 1 stick), softened

NASTURTIUM BUTTER

4 ounces unsalted butter (1/4 pound - 1 stick), softened

12-18 nasturtium flowers - rinsed and drained - chopped small

3-4 fresh chives (optional) - chopped small

2-4 fresh nasturtium leaves or a few sprigs fresh parsley - chopped small

For either butter: Mix all ingredients until well blended.

They can be rolled into logs and wrapped in plastic wrap. Can be frozen.